limits. all of it to create art and architecture unlike any other. thanks for joining us. hope to see you back here next sunday. you're in the cnn news room. i'm alison kosik. let's begin with the latest on that terrible story out of britain, the investigation continues into the apparent suicide of a nurse at the hospital where the duchess of cambridge was being treated. she took a prank phone call from australian radio deejays looking for information on the duchess' condition. today, a letter to the hospital, he called the whole thing quote truly tragic and said we are anxious to review the results of

the investigation. the family of the nurse posted about her on facebook her daughter wrote simply i miss you. i love you. the dallas cowboys took the field today without two players. jerry brown jr. was killed early yesterday when the car he was riding in hit a curb at high speed in irving, texas. police say the mercedes went 900 feet, flipped and caught fire. police say cowboys nose tackle was pulling him from the burnt car when they arrived. brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter. >> our officers on scene felt as if alcohol was a contributing factor in the accident, so mr. price brent was asked to perform some field sob ryety tests. after the tests, based on his performance, along with our officer's observations and the conversations they had with him,

he was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. >> brent did not enter a plea this morning. bail is at $500,000. an update to last week's tragedy that shocked the kansas city chiefs, new video shows belcher hours before he killed his girlfriend then himself. the first video shows police talking to belcher after they found him apparently sleeping in his car. he was not arrested and belcher told police he was going to an apartment to see a woman. listen now to what police told him in this video released by kansas city police. >> you live right here? you just need to go upstairs, dude. >> yeah -- okay, that's going to be your best bet. >> we're trying to cut you a break here. >> okay, now, look at the second dash cam video from just five hours later. officers here are responding to a second belcher 911 call and at

this moment, belcher had killed the mother of his child and shot himself in front of his coaches. listen now to the officers learning who was behind the violence. >> we have a confirmed shooting and it is i believe belcher, of the chiefs, we have confirmed that. >> a dispatcher says belcher was outside of the player's entrance. a shooting in california on an indian reservation leaf leaved two dead and one injured. he shot two and took off in a car with his two young daughters. the police caught up with him and exchanged gunfire. coalition forces have rescued an american doctor in afghanistan. he was working for a non-profit agency when he and two colleagues were abducted while returning from a health clinic near kabul. his two colleagues were

released. there are conflicting reports about the identity of their captures. forces say they're insurgents, while two afghan officials say they're smugglers. both sides in the fiscal cliff negotiations are much closer despite what you might think. on today's state of the union, jackie -- of the times picked up on something. >> he said you know, the republicans really ought to think about just declaring victory by going along with the president and senate democrats and taking the 98% of the tax cuts they agree on for everybody below $250,000 and just work next year on tax reform and see if they can get the top rate down again. it's hard to think that's not going to be where they end up, so why not make it clean instead of ugly. >> i think that it is true that many republicans are saying

privately what tom cole said on this show, that they believe the politically expedient and right thing to do now is just to cut their losses, agree to tax rates going up for the most wealthy and really try for significant tax reforms so that 39.6% is going to be moot. >> if nothing is done by the end of the year to avoid the fiscal cliff, automatic federal spending cuts could impact the foot we eat. emily schmidt explains. >> preparing for holidays is a reminder of something else around the corner. >> i just can't imagine funding being cut at this point. it was be tragic. >> she is worried budget cuts would hurt food safety inspection. that's mattered to her since her twins her born in 1999. she and her babies got listeria

poisoning. contaminated food sickens about 48 million a year. 3,000 die. so the fda and usda are charged with protecting the simply. an 8.2 budget cut translates to $157 million. there's no word exactly what cuts would mean to staffing. >> both fda and usda are stretched pretty thin when it comes to the activities they do. they need increased resources and not fewer. >> agencies always say they're stretched. >> dean clancy is with freedom works and says the cuts leave nothing to fear. >> arguing that getting spending under control endangers public health and safety is a really irresponsible scare tactic. especially when you realize that these aren't real cuts. these are reductions from anticipated increases in spending. >> cut the budget for the work these agencies do, it's going to

significantly impact them today. tomorrow. >> you made that one, didn't you? >> tressa bennett and her kids are now healthy and food safety advocates. >> remember, we all have to eat. >> and they say nobody should have to fear what they eat. >> a company that tracks food recalls says there was 414 last quarter. the highest level in at least two years. most of the recalls came from worries about food borne illness. got questions about the fiscal cliff in tweet them to me and we're going to answer as many as we can during our 5:00 hour. venezuela's leader says his cancer is back, so he must go to cuba for treatment. a live report is next. and nelson mandela is still in the hospital. we'll tell you how he's doing. ♪ [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks.

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hugo chavez will soon return to cuba for cancer surgery. he's taken the extraordinary step of preparing for a successor. patri patrick, any word when he may arrive? >> you know, hugh shae has said now battling for his life. we don't expect him to delay.

venezuela's parliament has cleared the way. he had to ask permission to leave the country for more than five days. this afternoon, he received that permission, although some opposition lawmakers criticized chavez for lack of transparency, for saying he had been cured of cancer and now that he obviously is suffering from the disease yet again. it's the third instance that cancer has struck mr. chavez in the last year and a half. all eyes now really on the man who could succeed chavez, his vice president, who essentially will be running the country in his absence. he is a union leader. has been a foreign minister for chavez and one of the big questions is will he continue some of the policies of chavez. chavez essentially gave away billions of dollars of venezuela's oil wealth to prop up countries like cuba, so making him one of the more influential leaders in the region, but hasn't always been very popular in venezuela sh but

all eyes in cuba on the venezuelan president as he's expected to arrive perhaps as soon as today to begin immediate cancer treatment here in havana. >> so, why did chavez need permission to go to cuba in the first place? >> you know, we've seen this as he spent months and months here over the last year and a half as part of this country's institution, if he spends more than five days out of the country, he needs permission and if he were to spend more than 30 days, he would be removed from power. that's not going to happen. he's deal iing with a national assembly that's full of his supporters, but there was rare criticism today from members of the opposition and even doubts about his health, about the wisdom of leaving the country for so long. about why he needs to go to another country to receive health care that he perhaps could receive in venezuela, but at the end of the day, chavez still remains incredibly popular

in venezuela. we've seen thousands of venezuelans taking the streets today to voice their support for chavez, so send him best wishes. >> thanks. former south african president nelson mandela has spent a second day in the hospital. jakob zuma visited him and said he's comfortable. the 94-year-old mandela was rushed to a hospital yesterday for tests. and this programming note. soledad o'brien examines provocative questions about skin color and race. the documentary appears tonight at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. is it fighting for the right to work or union busting? that battle's being fought right in the heart of the american labor movement and the workers have stormed the state cap cal. mr. margin?

don't be modest, bob. you found a better way to pack a bowling ball. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know. home of the legendary grand prix circuit. the perfect place to bring the all-new cadillac ats to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. i cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

michigan. it's the corner stone of the american labor movement, but could be in for the biggest

shake up in its history. despite rallies of union workers in the state capital, michigan lawmakers are on the verge of passing a right to work law. experts say it would be massive symbolic blow to the labor movement. susan candiotti is on the line with us. they would be forced to pay union dues even though they will stild enjoy the benefits of contracts. if this becomes law, what would it mean for unions and what kind of political path they can carry after this? >> that is the question, isn't it? politically, it could be a major blow to unions. last month in michigan, voters rejected a referendum that would have made this unconstitutional. passage could also make unions in the private sector obsolete. if the law passes, union supporters are convinced pay and benefits could take a big hit. the later bureau of labor

statistics for 2011 put the immedia median salary for full time union workers at about $940 a week. compared to about $730 a week for nonunion workers. the head of the united auto workers in michigan, not happy. >> data and the facts from all of the right to work states show that it's right to work for less. >> in michigan, 17.5% of the workforce is unionized. one of the highest of any state. >> all right, susan, so supporters including republicans, led by gop governor rick schneider, they think the bill is going to wind up boosting the economy there, not hurt it and that's the whole point of this law, right? >> exactly. the governor and others insist that right to work laws will save jobs and in fact, bring more work to michigan and even increase salaries by not forces union dues on workers. here's michigan's governor. >> to give freedom of choice to

the workplace and that ledge islators move through the legislature and when it arrives on my desk, i plan on signing it. >> so, susan, what kind of turnout's going to be expected this week? lawmakers are expected to vote by when? >> as early as tuesday. some people are predicting 7,000 demonstrators coming into town. last week when supporters and opponents jammed the capital, the state police locked the doors. they said for safety reasons and union reps had to get a court order to reopen the halls. now, if the bill is passed, some people are talking about recall campaigns like we saw in wisconsin or maybe legal challenges. we'll see. >> okay, looks interesting to follow. thanks, susan candiotti. you can now talk to the pope with just a click of a mouse. that's because he's joined twitter. find out what he'll be tweeting about and how you can join in the conversation. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. more than a billion people follow the pope spiritually. now, they can also follow him virtually. that's because he's joined twitter. he's set to send his first tweet

this wednesday, december 12th. joe johns talked to the senior adviser for the vatican about what the response has been so far. >> some are very nice questions. one lady who obviously likes gardens says what's your favorite place in the vatican garden to pray? and then more serious things. what are you reading to prepare for christmas and another one i liked a lot, which i think probably a lot of parents can relate to, could you please pray for my children to that they return to the church? so, there are all sorts of questions coming in. in terms of what will be selected and what the pope will answer, i keep telling people, this is the pope, it's going to be a spiritual message. >> so, tell us, just how tech savvy is the pope? is he an iphone guy? does he actually send e-mails? >> the pope, i tell people you know, they say, does the pope have a computer?

that's sort of like asking if the pope has a car. he has several, but he's normally not the one driving and unlike the rest of us, the pope is not looking down at his ipad during the meeting or the blackberry doing that. he's a pen and paper guy very much, but he is a word guy and he certainly does realize, or a word person. that doesn't sound very reverential. or a word pope. i think aappreciates twitter because of that. he recognizes this is a way to get the message out! the pope is going to be tweeting this seven languages. english, german, italian, portuguese and arabic. why include arabic and leave the latin out? >> why leave the latin out? that's the good question and don't, don't, don't, don't think it's out for good. we'll see what happens because there are actually a lot more people in the vatican who speak latin than arabic, but arabic is an outreach especially after the trip to lebanon. after the trip, the pope started

doing a short thing in arabic and it's a shoutout, if you will, to the christians, many of whom are living in difficult circumstances, arab christians in northern africa and other part os the mideast. the biggest response is in english and then a very, very big response in spanish as well. >> it's pretty clear this is sort of a social makeover for the vatican, if you will. what are they going to do next? >> who knows. you know, we've got some apps coming up in terms of being able to connect on their tablets, on their smart phones right away with the vatican. you know, any legitimate means basically, that's it. this is old meeting new. we'll see how it works. i think it certainly can work. twitter is certainly a way to get your message out. all over the world. globally, the church is a global

institution as you've seen all the different languages and it's a way to do it which is not real labor intensive either. so we'll see. >> and if you want to join in on the conversation on twitter -- we'll be right back. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story.

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trending. pacu has lost to mar qwest. before the match, mitt romney, who was there, wished him luck. johnny manziel has made history. he was named the 2012 heisman trophy winner yesterday. manziel is the first prefreshmao win the award. the los angeles police department is apologizing for releasing the notorious b.i.g.'s autopsy without telling the late rapper's family first. the report revealed fresh details of his 1997 death. i'll be back in one hour. the game of political chicken over the fiscal cliff is still being played in washington. why congress emptied out this weekend with no deal in hand. plus, what are the most intriguing images of 2012? from the disturbing to the hilarious, we' look at the